Methamphetamine 1.2 Tons Transferred Ship to Ship in the South Java Sea

TheIndonesia.co - Chief of the Indonesian National Police (Kapolri) General Pol. Listyo Sigit Prabowo revealed that 1,196 tons of methamphetamine, which was secured in Pangandaran Regency, West Java, was the result of a trafficker's transaction in the middle of the sea.

"When the four perpetrators transferred them from the boat to the car, we took them into custody," said Listyo at the Soreang Police Intelligence Education Center quoted by Antara, Bandung Regency, West Java, Thursday, March 24, 2022.

The methamphetamine dealers were suspected of conducting narcotics transactions using the ship-to-ship method in the middle of the sea. Then, the methamphetamine was sent to the Pangandaran coast by a fishing boat, he explained.

Director of Narcotics Crime at the National Police, Brigadier General Pol. Krisno H. Siregar said that narcotics smuggling in large quantities mostly uses sea routes. Although it was revealed in the West Java area, Krisno suspects that the illicit goods will be distributed to other areas, so the Pangandaran area is suspected to be only a transit location.

"But it is possible to repeat the (smuggling) mode as in previous years through container services," said Krisno.

Smuggling methamphetamine from international networks, according to him, is not the first time it has been discovered in Pangandaran. In 2012 and 2020, the police also thwarted attempts to smuggle methamphetamine on the southern coast of Sukabumi Regency, he said.

"They are smart, but we have to be smarter the Chief of Police said. So, I think in West Java, we make this a point that needs attention as an entry point," he said.

Krisno H Siregar said 1,196 tons of crystal methamphetamine seized was suspected to have come from a Middle Eastern drug syndicate network. "It is also possible that later developments will involve citizens of other countries. But we can call this a Middle Eastern syndicate," Krisno said.

The reason, he said, was that the methamphetamine seized in Pangandaran was suspected to have the same source as the methamphetamine smuggled in Aceh which was previously disclosed by the Criminal Investigation Department.

"Of course, we will continue to analyze. From the point of view of the evidence, our analysis, we believe that production from Afghanistan controls the network from the Middle East," he said.

In the disclosure of the methamphetamine smuggling case in Pangandaran, there is also one suspect, an Afghan citizen with the initials M (20). The suspect is one of five people named as suspects. The other four suspects are Indonesian citizens with the initials SA (33), HM (41), HH (39), and AH (38).

Meanwhile, General Police Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the suspect, who is an Afghan citizen, had a role in guarding the shipment of methamphetamine. "M is a foreigner from Afghanistan, his role is to guard and ensure the methamphetamine reaches the transaction point," said Listyo.